Howard Smith-US PRESSWIREAndy Reid and Michael Vick tried to make sense of the QB drama surrounding the Eagles.

Chalk up the 'Bench Vick' talk early this week to being upset after an embarrassing loss. And maybe a misunderstanding. Or something of the sort.

At least that's the word according to Andy Reid and Michael Vick about this week's quarterback controversy.

Three days after saying he would go back and "look at everything" including his starting quarterback immediately following a 30-17 loss to the Falcons, Reid issued a statement Wednesday confirming Vick would still be his starter. On Thursday, Vick and Reid did their best to clarify the situation and pawn it off on postgame anger. Or something like that.

"There is a time and place when you are upset. And I was upset after the game," Reid said. "Not at Michael Vick but at myself for not getting the team ready to play and then working from there. I've learned to step back and evaluate. That was my point to you. My points wasn't that I was going to bench Michael Vick."

Despite Reid's current stance, evidence points to the contrary. After Vick sparked the firestorm in Sunday's postgame press conference, there were two days of silence. As the firestorm around the quarterback spread, Reid and the Eagles remained silent (albeit as a superstorm crushed the area). It wasn't until Wednesday — until the evaluation was presumably complete — that Reid issued a statement.

Vick said Thursday he was never under the impression he would lose his starting job. His comments after the game when he was also upset with the result suggested otherwise. Vick seemed resigned to losing his position at the time. As the days passed and anger waned, his tone and stance changed.

"Honestly I never knew or never heard about me not being a starter. … Why did I say it? That was the question that was thrown at me from one of you guys.

"I didn't know that conversation had [taken] place. It's all hindsight now. You've got to move forward. I can't continue to entertain that. I've got to stay focused for this team. I've got to stay focused for this organization. That's what matters the most. Going out, putting in hard work and getting the win."

Now, still amidst constant chatter, the Eagles, their embattled coach and equally under-fire quarterback try to move past this latest drama. They did so first with Reid's show of support for his quarterback. The Eagles coach said Thursday that Vick played "one of his better games" of the season on Sunday. He then denied having ever having seriously considered benching Vick in favor of rookie Nick Foles.

"No. That wasn't my intent," Reid said. "Not at all."

Maybe. Maybe not. The bottom line is nobody was content with their performance Sunday. Not the coach, not the quarterback.

"We like to go downfield. We like to attack," Vick said. "Our offensive personality is being aggressive, picking and choosing our spots, and making plays that we know we can make.

"I just felt like in certain scenarios I kept it conservative but stayed aggressive and just tried to take what they gave me. We fell behind early so it wasn’t the time for that, so the mindset has to change.”

Change is exactly what Vick now promises. Or at least something different from what we're seen this season.

"I'm trying to protect the football, I'm trying not to make a mistake," Vick said. "That's not me. I'll be honest with you. I have to go play lights out, I have to go play the game and leave it all on the field and play aggressive, and shoot it and run the ball as I feel I need to.

"If I get a seam, get a crack, take it. Just do what I've been born [and] blessed to do and take advantage of my god-given abilities in conjunction with playing with everybody else."